No Prosecution Over Ex-Councillor's Immigrant Children Remarks

A former Chichester councillor will not face prosecution over "thoughtless and extremely foolish" remarks about immigrant children.

Tory John Cherry drew condemnation after claiming that Pakistani children would fail to "rise to the top" and some nationalities were "uncertain" what hard work is about.

The ex-Chichester councillor was responding to proposals by a south London academy to open an Eton-style boarding school in the West Sussex countryside.

He warned that the children would want to "escape into the forest - it will be a sexual volcano". But after being heavily criticised, Mr Cherry quit the Conservative Party and apologised.

After receiving two complaints, Sussex Police looked into the remarks, which were reported in the Mail on Sunday in April.

Today a force spokesman said:

"Following police inquiries into this matter, it has been concluded that there is no evidence of a criminal offence having been committed, and therefore no action is being taken by police.

"We consulted the CPS in arriving at our decision."

Mr Cherry, a Wellington and Cambridge-educated chartered accountant, declined to comment today. In April, he said the remarks were "plainly wrong", adding: "They were thoughtless and extremely foolish."

The Tories had begun action to suspend Mr Cherry before his resignation, with a spokesman previously describing the comments as "totally unacceptable" and which "do not reflect the views of the Conservative Party".